Navigated urban floating office or residential structure for independent parties

ABSTRACT

Structures, systems and methods are disclosed for navigating a vessel that can be used as a floating residential or office structure for independent parties, typically throughout the waterways of an urban region (e.g., San Francisco Bay), with navigational routes that minimize energy use while satisfying the logistical needs of users of the vessel, as well as satisfying governmental laws that constrain the movement and location of navigable structures. Also disclosed are structures, systems and methods for navigating such a vessel that can satisfy laws that regulate the environmental impact of a such vessel, and that can ensure the safety and health of people using such a vessel.

1. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part and claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/569,768, filed 29 Sep. 2009, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entiretyand for all purposes, which in turn claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) to provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/191,594 filed29 Sep. 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety and for all purposes.

2. NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT

Portions of this patent application include materials that are subjectto copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to thefacsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document itself, or ofthe patent application, as it appears in the files of the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever in such included copyrighted materials.

3. BACKGROUND 3.1 Technical Fields

The field of invention comprises the intersection of the technicalfields of: static structures (e.g., buildings) [USPTO Class 52, IPC8Class E04], ships or other waterborne vessels [USPTO Class 114, IPC8Class B63], and navigation [USPTO Classes 701/200:226, IPC8 Classes G01C21/00:36].

3.2 Centuries of Living in the City or Living on the Seas

For centuries, the allure and usefulness of life in the big citycontinues to increase. The mix of cultures, entertainment, education,business, living, dining, transportation, political and otheropportunities makes waterfront cities such as San Francisco, LosAngeles, New York, Lisbon, Cartegena, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong,Shanghai and Sydney the large, exciting, thriving urban environmentsthat continue to attract new residents.

As well for centuries, people have been drawn to life at sea. Call it aprimal urge drawn from our evolutionary origins in the sea. Call it adesire for the different—the stability of land exchanged for thedynamics of water. From ocean explorers to ocean traders to oceanliving, many are drawn to water beyond a swim at the beach, or a drivealong California's Pacific Coast Highway, Costa Rica's Costanera,Australia's Great Ocean Road, or Spain's Costa Del Sol.

It is very surprising then, that over the centuries, there has been afailure to truly combine both experiences—living on the waters by thecity. The yalis of Istanbul, houses with one side directly adjacent tothe water, e.g., are as close as you can get from the land side, thenext step being mooring residences immediately offshore, e.g.,houseboats, junks and boatels. But here evolution has mostly stopped dueto multiple technological problems others have failed to solve.

3.3 Defects and Inadequacies: Houseboat/Oceanboat/Riverboat Living

A popular form of living nearest to waterways of an urban region aretraditional single occupancy/family houseboats which are moored/securedto land, (especially for vital power/water/sewage connections), as seen,for example, in houseboat communities located in the shallow waters ofSan Francisco and Seattle bays, and moored junk communities (one familyfishing vessels) of Aberdeen Harbour in Hong Kong, and moored odditiessuch as the 1850s floating church in Philadelphia, or the Tai PakFloating Restaurant moored in Aberdeen Harbour.

Many patents have issued for new designs of houseboats, for example,from U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,692 to U.S. Patent Application 2007/056498. Afew patents have been issued for related forms of urban moored floatingliving, including JP2003591 and WO99/20521 (moored, ship-like structuresused as residences), and FR2599706 and GB1297245 (moored floatinghotels). Non-patent examples or moored lifestyles include new designsfor houseboats from Erikstad Architecture, the moored artists barge inNew York City (the WaterPod); an analysis of European moored apartmentbarges in a Swedish university thesis, “Apartment barges—a comfort andsafety analysis”, the Edge (a moored floating neighborhood thesis designstudy for the city of Richmond in British Columbia); the mooredElizabeth River Learning Barge; and the moored floating camp River ofTrees in the Atchafayala basin; Such moored structures pose few, if any,navigation problems found in urban waterways, because of their nearlyconstant physical connections to the shore/pier/land.

At the great expense of abandoning daily life in an urban region, arenon-urban ocean-based vessels. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,103,a barge converted into an offshore residential structure; the massive,globally-navigated floating pseudo-cities such as the Freedom Ship(www.freedomship.com) and the Residential Ocean Liners(www.residentialvessels.com), and aircraft carriers. Not only is regularliving in a single urban region prohibited with such vessels, some suchvessels (and their predecessors, cruise ships) have hull depths (e.g.,25 to 40 feet) that prevent them from being navigated in most parts ofurban waterways. Such vessels pose few, if any, navigation problems inurban waterways, other than moving to/and from piers for short-termvisits such as for cargo container ships.

Also at the great expense of abandoning daily life in a single urbanregion are non-urban river-based floating temporary housing. Examplesinclude U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,418 (a large river-barge-based campgroundcarrying recreational vehicles between cities on a river); theyet-to-be-funded River Cities Condos project, a huge river-barge-basedcondominium structure traveling between cities of the Mississippi River(www.rivercitiescondos.com); and a variety of river-based floatinghotels such as the Boatel Houseboat on the Murray River in Australia.River-based floating housing has a simple, one-dimensional,non-intersecting navigation problem when not moored—avoid hitting thevessels fore and aft, and then only for river regions with dense traffic(most river-based floating residences/hotels travel in river regions farfrom any urban area). Such river-based structures, at best, onlytemporarily house multiple parties (e.g., guests of the hotel).

3.6 Problems to be Solved

For over 40 years, others have failed to teach how to solve the problemof navigating a floating residence and/or office structure within thewaterways of an urban region, for a plurality of hours a day for mostdays of the year, where multiple technical problems need to be solvedsuch as the daily intermodal transportation needs of multipleindependent parties/families resident on the structure, and the problemof satisfying multiple federal, state and local governmental navigationand health laws.

For over 40 years, others have failed to teach how to solve the logisticproblems of supplying such a navigated structure with consumables andarranging inter-modal transportation (e.g., from a structure to atransit system), etc., while supplying energy for navigating thestructure for a plurality of hours of the day for many days of the year.

For over 40 years, others have failed to provide for the sale ofhigh-priced residential properties located on a vessel used as afloating residential or office structure for independent parties that isnavigated throughout the waterways of an urban region. For over 40years, others have failed to motivate real estate developers toresearch, develop, manufacture and sell residences based on thestructures, systems and methods disclosed herein, especially inlucrative real estate markets such as San Francisco, Seattle, Rio deJaneiro, Sydney, Lisbon and Hong Kong.

One reason for the failure of others to so innovate is the sheercomplexity of navigational and logistical problems that arise in thewaterways of a single urban region. In sharp contrast to theone-dimensional navigation of rivers (upstream, downstream), are urbanwaterways that pose two-dimensional regulated navigation problems, withmultiple forms of crisscrossing daily, weekly and/or monthly traffic(container ships, pleasure vessels, day ferries, sailboats, etc.).

These more complex navigation problems pose unsolved expensive energysupply minimization problems that arise from navigating residencesthrough the waterways of an urban region for a plurality of hours a dayfor many days of the year.

All of these technical problems are further complicated by the randomship-to-shore navigation requirements of residents (e.g., going to work,leisure activities, emergencies, etc.), as opposed to the controlledflow, e.g., of hotel or cruise ship guests.

4. SUMMARY

In a first aspect, provided herein is a residential or office structurefor independent parties, including a first vessel capable of navigatingthe waterways of an urban region. The structure further includes atleast one navigation system that controls the movement of said firstvessel along at least one route through the waterways of an urbanregion. The structure further includes at least one energy managementsystem for determining at least one navigational route for use by saidnavigation system to move said first vessel for a plurality of hours forany of the days of the year in which said first vessel is moved, with,for example, said route including coordinates of at least one anchoragearea.

5. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein withreference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a chart of part of the San Francisco Bay region.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are exemplary lists of other urban regions with waterways.

FIG. 4 is a generalized diagram of the San Francisco Bay region.

FIG. 5 is a template version of the diagram of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating two daily constant-motion routes for aNUFORS.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a lengthier, more scenic daily constantmotion route for a NUFORS.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating some of the General Anchorage areas ofSan Francisco Bay.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a region of Regulated Navigation Areasof San Francisco Bay.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a daily route for a NUFORS.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a daily route for a NUFORS.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating variances in daily routes for aNUFORS.

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention.It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and mechanical,compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. The following detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense.

6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 6.0 Index to Section 6

Section 6 of the Detailed Description is divided in 7 parts:6.1—Definitions; 6.2—Exemplary Urban Regions; 6.3—Exemplary Vessels;6.4—Exemplary Residences or Offices; 6.5—Exemplary Energy ManagementSystems, Methods and Economics; 6.6—Exemplary Navigational Systems andMethods; and 6.7 Other Exemplary Aspects.

6.1 Definitions

The term “resident” used herein typically refers to a person makingsubstantial continual use either of a residential structure or of anoffice structure, typically with the person having an ownership orlong-term rental interest in the residential or office structure. Forthe structures, systems and methods disclosed herein, passengers oncruise ships and tourist vessels are not considered to be residents.

The phrase “independent parties” used herein typically refers to two ormore independent groups of related people with partially disjointnavigational requirements for their shared residential vessel. Forexample, a floating residence can comprise two groups of residents: thefirst group can be a family of four people (two parents and twochildren), while the second group can be an unmarried couple or tworoommates. Each group typically makes collective decisions as to theirnavigational needs, but these needs are not necessarily equivalent forthe two groups. Satisfying both sets of needs can require compromisethat can be coordinated by the vessel's pilot and/or navigationalsystem.

The term “waterway” or “waterways” used herein typically refers to anynavigable body of water, including rivers, lakes, seas, oceans andcanals. Typically, to be navigable, a waterway must meet severalcriteria, including: being deep and wide enough for the vessels using itto be navigated through, being free of navigation barriers, and withaverage currents mild enough to allow the vessels to be navigatedthrough with or without being powered. One example of a waterway is abay adjacent to at least one city, such as San Francisco Bay, Baia deGuanabara or Tokyo-wan. Bodies of water in an urban region are referredherein as either “waterway” or “waterways”. For example, the entire bodyof water in San Francisco Bay can be referred to as comprising onewaterway, or comprising two waterways: San Francisco Bay and theadjacent San Pablo Bay arbitrarily delimited by the Richmond bridge.Regardless of such labels, the references are to one contiguous body ofwater for vessels to navigate in.

In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is responsiblefor the general regulation of navigation on American waterways. Suchregulations, and more information, are available at:www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rotr_online.htm as of September 2009.

The acronym “NUFORS” (Navigated Urban Floating Office ResidenceStructure) used herein typically refers to a vessel used as aresidential, or office, structure for independent parties that isnavigated in the waterways of an urban region, wherein said vessel isnavigated while satisfying one or more governmental regulations onnavigation, housing, health and environmental protection.

The term “tender” used herein typically refers to a vessel or vehiclegenerally used to transport people and/or supplies to and from an NUFORSand another NUFORS, or to and from a land-based portal. Typically, atender is smaller than an NUFORS, e.g., a powerboat. Typically, a tenderis detachably coupled to the NUFORS. In regions where there are morethan one NUFORS, one or more tenders can be shared between the NUFORSs.For a large enough NUFORS, a small helicopter can be used as a tender. Atender can have its base of operations onshore (for example, a companyrunning a shuttle service for one or more NUFORSs using one or moretenders, similar to tug boat services offered in many ports), or thetender can have its base of operations on an NUFORS. While most tendersare powered, residents can also use self-propelled vessels (e.g.,kayaks) to connect to land-based portals. Ambitious residents can justjump off the vessel and swim to shore.

6.2 Exemplary Urban Regions with Waterways

The terms “single urban region” and “urban region” used herein typicallyrefer to a region with at least one navigable waterway, a waterway thattypically can be characterized as being located adjacent to at least onecity; and/or where the waterway can be adjacent to an ocean; and/orwhere the waterway can be substantially isolated from an adjacent oceanby natural or artificial barriers; and/or where the waterway can providesufficient space for two-dimensional navigational routes; and/or wherethe infrastructure in the surrounding urban environment can provide avariety of social, medical, educational, occupational, entertainment,transportation, telecommunications, energy, and other resources andopportunities.

Typically, an urban region has natural or artificial structures thatprovide some/much protection from ocean-driven storms for vessels on thewaterway. For example, the hills of the city of San Francisco (such asTwin Peaks) and of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area in Marinnaturally protect San Francisco Bay from the worst of ocean-driveninclement weather (similar protection is provided by the Coronadopeninsula for San Diego Bay). Similarly are artificial structures suchas the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter in Hong Kong that provide suchprotection.

FIG. 1 is a chart of part of the San Francisco Bay, an example of asingle urban region with a waterway, comprising San Francisco Bay(basically the region bounded by the Richmond, Golden Gate and San Mateobridges) and San Pablo Bay (the region north of the Richmond Bridge).Not depicted is South Bay (the region south of the San Mateo bridge).Angel Island appears approximately in the center of the chart, with thecity of San Francisco to the south (and with Alcatraz Island betweenAngel Island and San Francisco), and the cities of Oakland and Berkeleyto the east.

Some characteristics of an urban region with a waterway, as illustratedusing San Francisco Bay, include the adjacent city/cities of SanFrancisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond; where the adjacent ocean isthe Pacific Ocean; where the (natural) isolating barriers are the hillsof San Francisco and Marin counties; where the two-dimensionalnavigational routes include in/out-bound ocean traffic from the GoldenGate Bridge to the piers/docks of South San Francisco, Oakland andRichmond, ferry traffic between San Francisco, Alameda and Marincounties, as well as recreational and fishing vessels crisscrossing theBay; and where there are ample resources and opportunities, includingsocial (e.g., Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, North Beach, and JackLondon Square); medical (e.g., University of California at San FranciscoHospital), educational (e.g., UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco),occupational (e.g., the business districts of San Francisco and Oakland,etc.); entertainment (e.g., Union Square shopping and theater district);transportation (e.g., the MUNI, CALTANS and BART public transit systems,with connections to the San Francisco and Oakland Internationalairports); and telecommunications (e.g., the many commercially availablelandline, wireless, cable and Internet systems).

FIGS. 2 and 3 are exemplary lists of other single urban regions withwaterways adjacent to attractions similar to those available in the SanFrancisco Bay region, other regions in which the systems, structures andmethods disclosed herein can be used. In the United States, there arethe bays of Boston (Boston Harbor, and Cape Cod and Buzzards Bays),Puget Sound (centered on Seattle, Wash.), New York Harbor (especiallythe Upper and Lower New York bays), Long Island Sound (sandwichedbetween Connecticut and Long Island), Chesapeake Bay (adjacent to thecity of Baltimore), and Tampa Bay.

Not all of the waterways listed in FIGS. 2 and 3 have all of thecharacteristics of waterways such as San Francisco Bay. MassachusettsBay adjacent to the city of Boston on the Atlantic Ocean, and SantaMonica/San Pedro bays adjacent to the city of Los Angeles, have lesserdegrees of isolation from the ocean (and thus can have more inclementsurface water conditions that have to be compensated for). In somecases, offshore (covered) harbors (for example, along the lines ofJapanese patent application JP63002789 for an offshore yacht harbor) canbe built to shelter the vessels disclosed herein during inclement waterconditions, or coastal land can be purchased to build a traditionalmarina or harbor.

Similarly, the coastal waterways of Beirut and Tel Aviv can be tranquilenough (due to the calm waters at the Eastern end of the MediterraneanSea) that a NUFORS s has little need for natural/artificial structuresfor protection from rougher sea conditions. A NUFORS can be navigatedoffshore such cities, for example, hugging the Beirut shoreline back andforth between the northern Aajram beach round the western end of Beirutto the southern beach of Ramlet Al-Baida, along a route of approximate12 miles in one direction.

Some near-bay urban waterways can be used for the structures, systemsand methods disclosed herein. Cities such as Wilmington/Philadelphia andQuebec are near-bay in that their immediate waterways (Delaware River;Saint Lawrence River) are immediate to coastal waterways (Delaware Bay,Gulf of Saint Lawrence).

6.2.1 Illustrative Example—San Francisco Bay Region

In a variety of sections of the Detailed Description below, the SanFrancisco Bay region is used as the location for a variety of examplesto teach how to use the systems, structures and methods disclosed hereinin other urban regions with waterways. These examples disclosed hereincan be used analogously by a NUFORS in any urban region, similar to theSan Francisco Bay region, that has a waterway with regulated shippingchannels, anchorage areas, land-based transportation portals (piers,docks) and other constraints on navigation for which the systems,structures and methods disclosed herein provide useful solutions.

FIG. 4 is a generalized diagram of the San Francisco Bay region,depicting the major cities and landmarks. The labels “SAN FRANCISCO”,“SAUSALITO”, “TIBURON”, “SAN RAFAEL”, “RICHMOND”, “BERKELEY”, “OAKLAND”,“HAYWARD”, “SAN MATEO”, and “SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO” refer to citiesadjacent to the bay. The bay waters are labeled by “BAY”, and the oceanwaters labeled with “PACIFIC”. The labels “GGB”, “RSFB”, “OBB” and“SMHB” refer to the Golden Gate, Richmond San Rafael, Oakland Bay andSan Mateo Hayward bridges. Finally, three main bay islands are labeledas “AI”, “AL”, and “TI”, referring to Angel, Alcatraz, andTreasure/YerbaBuena islands.

In some examples below, Alcatraz Island is used as a central referencepoint for navigation purposes (or, for example, in Puget Sound, one canuse Blake Island as a central reference point; or in Sydney Harbor, onecan use Fort Dennison as a central reference point). Alcatraz Island islocated approximately at a longitude of 122 degrees, 25.5 minutes westand at a latitude of 37 degrees, 49.5 minutes north. Blake Island islocated approximately at a longitude of 122 degrees, 29.5 minutes westand at a latitude of 47 degrees, 32.25 minutes north. Fort Dennison islocated approximately at a longitude of 151 degrees, 13.5 minutes eastand at a latitude of 33 degrees, 51.3 minutes south. Globally, onenautical mile is approximately one minute of latitude distance. At theequator, one nautical mile is approximately one minute of longitudedistance. In the region of San Francisco Bay, one nautical mile isapproximately one minute, 16 seconds of longitude distance. Byinternational agreement, one nautical mile is defined as 1,852 meters.

FIG. 5 is the diagram of FIG. 4 minus many of the annotations, to beused as a template below to illustrate exemplary navigational routes ina waterway that solve technical problems caused by the constraints ofoperating a NUFORS.

6.3 Exemplary Vessels

A variety of individual vessels, and couplings of vessels, can be usedto support residences based on the systems and methods disclosed herein,especially vessels that require minimal amounts of energy for slow-speedtravel (e.g., one nautical mile per hour) while providing maximalstability under regular water surface conditions. Any such vessel issufficient, as long as it can be navigated using the systems and methodsdisclosed herein. Such a vessel can either be self-propelled, orpropelled (e.g., pushed or pulled) by another vessel such as a tugboat.

An example of one vessel that can be used to support residences is abarge. A barge can provide a large surface area for supportingresidences and/or offices, with leisure/recreational spaces adjacent tothe residences and/or offices (e.g., lawns or gardens). Additionally,the long length and wide widths of barges result in moments-of-inertiathat minimize uncomfortable rocking or rolling of the barge due toregular bay water conditions.

Examples of other vessels that can be used to support residences basedon the systems and methods disclosed herein include double-hulledcatamarans often used as bay ferries; and couplings of individualvessels, for example mechanically and/or electrically coupling at leasttwo motorboats or yachts to create similarly-sized residential spaces asavailable on a barge. For example, 12 motorboats can be arranged in a 6by 2 column format, with some engines removed and the remaining enginesjointly controlled by a navigation system.

Additionally, publication of this disclosure, and initialcommercialization activities, will attract the interest of vesseldesigners, who can create new designs for vessels to maximally make useof the structures, systems and methods disclosed herein, especially withregards to navigation and energy management.

Any type of engine can be used to power such vessels, including enginesfueled by diesel, gasoline, electricity, and/or biofuel. The lowhorsepower requirements to navigate such vessels at slow-speed in urbanregions with generally moderate to hot climates allows diesel engines tobe used to power the vessel's movement, where the diesel engines aremodified to use simple biofuels such as methanol or dimethyl ether(DME).

For example, consider a barge of dimension 270 feet by 50 feet. Thesurface of the vessel can be divided into different partitions forresidences. For example, four 30 foot by 30 foot, two to four story,residences can be built on the top of such a barge, with the remainingsurface area covered with 10 foot wide dirt and grass areas betweenresidences to recreate the suburban household experience on a vessel. A70 foot-wide barge can provide even more outdoor space for theresidents. The remaining surface space can be used for a navigationtower and/or pad for a small helicopter. A bay structure can be fittedto the front or back of the barge to detachably couple one or moretenders for providing residents of the NUFORS with transport toland-based portals such as piers and docks.

6.4 Exemplary Residences of Offices

Residences or offices supported by a vessel used in the structures,systems and methods disclosed herein can be of a variety ofarchitectural styles, and can be constructed from a variety of materials(e.g., wood, metal, plastics, canvas, etc.). The residences or officescan be mostly unattached to each other (as are houses typically insuburban areas), or mostly attached to each other as are apartments inapartment buildings. There are few constraints on the architecturalstyle and materials used to build the residences or offices, other thanthat they are physically supportable by the vessel. Architectural stylesthat minimize weight load are preferred for lessening fuel requirementsto move the vessel.

A variety of architectures are possible. For example, a storage area canoccupy space under the surface deck of the barge. The first floor of abuilding, on the upper surface of the barge, can include a living roomand dining room for a residence, or a reception room for an office. Thesecond floor and third floors can include one or more bedrooms, oroffice space. Such residences can be similar in size and shape totownhouses found in city residential complexes (such as the GoldenGateway Center in San Francisco). Or, for example, the exterior of theresidence or office can have the shape of a geodesic, a pyramid, or abottle of Patron tequila.

6.5 Exemplary Energy Management Systems, Methods and Economics

One technical problem solved with the structures, systems and methodsdisclosed herein is that of the fuel requirements that arise from theneed to power the engine(s) of a NUFORS to keep the vessel substantiallyin motion for a plurality of hours for most days of the year duringwhich the vessel is being navigated, if not for all hours of the daysfor all days of the year. Exemplary energy management and navigationalroutes for the San Francisco Bay region are disclosed below to teach howto solve such energy problems.

Consider two possible daily navigational routes in the San Francisco Bayregion. The first route is approximately travelling each day between twoanchorage points between General Anchorage 9 offshore from Hunters Pointin San Francisco (approximately at a longitude of 122 degrees, 21minutes, west; latitude of 37 degrees, 44 minutes, north), and GeneralAnchorage 5 offshore near Red Rock island (approximately at a longitudeof 122 degrees, 26 minutes, west; latitude of 37 degrees, 56 minutes,north). Latitude/longitude specifications disclosed herein can be usedas coordinate entries for navigational routes programmed into automatednavigational systems operable to guide an NUFORS' movements.

The distance between two anchorage points in those two areas isapproximately 12 nautical miles, creating a daily travel distance of 24nautical miles, for example, at an average speed of one nautical mileper hour (also known as a “knot”). FIG. 6 depicts two such routes asthick-arrowed lines, one route east of Treasure Island, and one routewest of Treasure Island. The route east of Treasure Island has theadvantage of mostly traversing General Anchorage areas where there isless large cargo traffic.

In general, many urban waterways have space for navigational routes fora NUFORS that can be approximately 24 nautical miles. For example, onenavigable route can be a path 12 nautical miles long in the Hudson Riverbetween Manhattan and New Jersey, in that part of the Hudson River oftenreferred to as the “North River” (the island of Manhattan isapproximately 13.4 miles in length). Another example of a navigableroute can be a path in Puget Sound with a northern end approximatelynear Seattle and a southern end approximately one third of the way toTacoma near the northwestern part of Vashon Island (the land distancebetween Seattle and Tacoma is approximately 32 miles). Another exampleof a navigable route can be a path with a northwestern end near the cityof Baltimore and a southeastern end offshore of Riviera Beach thatborders on the northern part of Chesapeake Bay.

Minimizing fuel consumption at slow speeds (e.g., 1 nautical mile perhour) increases the utility of the vessels disclosed herein. Forexample, the two San Francisco Bay routes depicted in FIG. 6 can betraversed by a one residential unit NUFORS equivalent in size to threeAmerican Tug 49 boats from Tomco Marine Group (La Conner, Wash.). ThisNUFORS has an equivalent length of about 50 feet and width of about 40feet. If one creates a 10 foot wide grass lawn about the residentialunit, there is left a building area of approximately 30 feet by 20 feet,space for a two to three bedroom townhouse with kitchen, dining area,living room and storage area. The American Tug has approximately afive-foot draft, and thus is navigable throughout most waterways inurban regions around the world, except for areas very near to the shore.

Published ratings for the American Tug 49 show that one boat requiresabout 0.33 gallons per hour at one to two knots, so that the equivalentof three boats in motion all day long between the two General Anchoragesas depicted in FIG. 6 will require approximately one gallon per hour, or8760 gallons per year. Marine diesel per gallon is approximately 25%more than diesel for automobiles. Assuming a cost of $4 per gallon forautomobile diesel results in marine diesel costs of about $5 per gallon,which for 8760 gallons per year, creates an annual fuel cost ofapproximately $44,000 per year. For example, if the owner of a residenceof a NUFORS deposits $1,000,000 in an interest-earning bank accountearning 4.4% a year (or invests in a preferred stock), then the ownerwill have sufficient funds to cover his or her share of the costs of thefuel. This coverage of the fuel cost by a resident allows the NUFORS toremain in motion all hours of the day for all hours of the year, forthose urban regions where regulations do not permit the NUFORS to remainat rest. Where regulations permit the NUFORS to make use of restingareas, such as anchorage areas, for at least a few hours a day, and/orfor at least a few days a year, less fuel is needed for the NUFORS to benavigated most hours of the day for most days of the year, and lessmoney need be set aside by the resident. For example, when the NUFORS isin motion three quarters of the time (e.g., at rest approximately 6hours each day, for example, anchoring in a General Anchorage areaapproximately from 1 AM to 7 AM when many residents might be asleep),then the annual fuel cost drops to $33,000 per year, and thus requiringa 3.3% return in a bank account.

Minimizing fuel consumption by using slow speeds for the NUFORS (e.g.,0.5 to 2 nautical miles per hour), as well as being constrained by theresidents of the residences or offices wanting to make regular use ofone urban region, generally restricts the NUFORS to remain within oneurban region. At 2 to 3 nautical miles per hour, a NUFORS has a half-dayrange of about 20 to 30 nautical miles, and at least for the urbanregions listed in FIGS. 2 and 3, none are within 50 nautical miles ofeach other (while multiple bays are listed for the New York City region,they are all one big contiguous urban body of water). In some cases, anexcursion trip may be possible to one other urban region (for example,the distance from Seattle to Vancouver is about 110 miles), with theresidents agreeing to cover the costs of the extra fuel needed forhigher speeds. Generally, though, the navigation of a NUFORS is limitedto the waterways of one urban region.

Another exemplary navigational route can have a navigational distance ofapproximately 96 nautical miles, four times the distance of the firstscenario. FIG. 7 depicts a closed route in San Francisco Bay for whichone circuit is somewhat longer than the route depicted in FIG. 6. Theroute depicted in FIG. 7 can be traversed three to four times a day, oronly once or twice day, with some legs of the route travelled at ahigher speed (4 to 8 knots) where such legs traverse the more-traffickedRegulated Navigation Areas. This lengthier distance allows the NUFORS topass by land-portals (e.g., the Ferry Building in San Francisco)multiple times (e.g., morning, noon, evening, midnight) for residents togo ashore or return to the NUFORS, as well as pass through scenic areas(such as in the vicinity of Angel Islands). The annual fuel cost fornavigating the NUFORS all hours of the day for all days of the year,approximately $132,000, can be paid for by earning a 6.6% return on a$2,000,000 account balance.

A NUFORS can also be compared to a group of 32-foot Nordic Tug 32 boats(NT32) (available from Nordic Tugs, Burlington, Wash.). Four such tugsprovide enough surface area and engine power to transport the equivalentof one residence on the NUFORS. At six nautical miles an hour, the NT32requires approximately one gallon of gasoline an hour, or four gallonsan hour for the four NT32s. At $5/gallon for fuel for the NT32, the fuelcost for transporting the equivalent of one residence on the NUFORS isapproximately $20/hour, or about $170,000/year if the NUFORS iscontinually moving. At six nautical miles per hour, an NUFORS, forexample, can travel much further throughout the San Francisco bay,including into San Pablo Bay north of the Richmond San Rafael Bridge,and as far south as the Dunbarton Bridge. Similarly, at six nauticalmiles per hour, a NUFORS can travel further up the Hudson River, furthernorth or south away from Seattle, or further away from Baltimore intomore of Chesapeake Bay.

Residents of a NUFORS can deposit a few million dollars into an escrowaccount, the interest of which can be used to cover the fuel costs (andother costs such as labor). When the resident sells his residence toanother party, his/her deposit is returned, and the new resident can berequired to deposit a similar amount. Or the resident can sign acontract agreeing to periodically pay for their chare of the fuel costvia check or bank transfer. In addition, residents can also deposit afew million dollars into another escrow account, with interest/dividendsearned allocated to pay salaries for pilots and crew members (or theresident can sign a contract guaranteeing periodic payments).Alternatively, the developer of a NUFORS can fund such accounts withpart of the profits of sales of a NUFORS.

Alternatively, some of the deposited monies can be invested in theproduction of renewable biofuels, some of which can be used to fuel theengine or engines of the vessel, and/or some of which can be sold in theenergy markets to provide income to pay for other operational expenses.One such renewable fuel can be dimethyl ether (DME), which can beproduced from methanol by dehydration, and is a liquid at roomtemperature under low pressure. DME has no carbon-carbon bonds, so itdoesn't produce soot particulates or black smoke when burned. A varietyof diesel engines for navigation uses can be modified to run on DME(with or without additives). Methanol can be produced by the plasmagasification of biomasses such as hemp, switchgrasses, and agriculturalwastes such as sugar cane bagasse, in some cases, for a few dollars pergallon, with industrially produced methanol available approximately forone dollar per gallon. For every two gallons so produced, one gallon canbe sold to cover costs, and the other gallon used to power the vesselsdisclosed herein. With NUFORS vessels in multiple urban waterways inNorth and South America, one can locate a biofuel production facility,for example, in Central America (e.g., Costa Rica and/or Panama, twocountries with ample amounts of sun and rain ideal for growing biomass),with some fuel optionally sold into local markets while the remainingfuel is shipped north or south.

Using a barge as the foundational vessel for the residents requires lesspower (and therefore less fuel) than the equivalent of three Americantug 49s or four NT32s to transport the equivalent of one residence on aNUFORS, and for many urban waterways, there are tides that can be usedto move a NUFORS (for example, the morning tides in San Francisco Bayfrom the ocean inwards can flow up to four knots, with the afternoonflows in the opposite direction). Additionally, a NUFORS can be poweredby solar-diesel hybrid engines, such as some engines sold by IslandPilot (www.dsehybrid.com), with some of the surface area of a NUFORSbeing covered with solar power cells. These factors further reduce theannual fuel cost for each residence of a NUFORS, or with the fuel saved,allow the NUFORS to be navigated more rapidly and/or for fartherdistances.

An alternate solution to the problem of providing fuel to a NUFORS canbe to use electric engines that are supplied with renewable energysources and/or fuel-based power generators. For example, IndependenceGreen Yachts, offers for sale a 60 foot yacht powered solely by solarcells panels installed on the roof of the yacht. Electricity from thesolar cells is used to generate hydrogen from water, with the hydrogenstored in metal hydride storage systems to be used later in fuel cellsto generate electricity to power the electric engines that propel theyacht (alternatively, electricity from the solar cells can be stored inbatteries for future use). For navigation at slow speeds (up to a fewknots), sufficient power can be generated, though at a much greaterexpense than traditional fuel sources for vessels (while 60 foot yachtscan cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars, Independence's greenyachts cost over $2,000,000).

Such financial calculations show that residents with sufficient incomecan cover the costs of their share of the fuel to keep their NUFORSmostly in motion most hours of the day, for most days of the year (ifnot for all hours of the day for all hours of the year), as compared toother residents with sufficient income to cover the costs of financingland-based residences that provide equally pleasurable views. Forexample, a penthouse in downtown San Francisco in the St. RegisResidences, has four terraces that provide a 360-degree panoramic viewof the San Francisco Bay region. The penthouse was bought for about$30,000,000 in 2005 and in 2008 was put up for sale for $70,000,000 (“A$70 million view, S.F. seller hopes”, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Aug.2008, page C1). While the high price is due much in part to location andelaborate furnishings inside the apartment (such as a two-storywaterfall, and a 13-seat movie cinema), millions of dollars of thepenthouses value is due to the Bay views. An uncompleted villa at 2920Broadway in San Francisco was sold for $32 million, again with millionsof dollars of the penthouse's value due to the Bay views it provides.

6.6 Exemplary Navigational Systems and Methods

For a NUFORS to be useful, a variety of transportation, logistics andsafety problems must be solved simultaneously, constrained by therequirements of individuals, families and/or workers inhabiting aNUFORS. These problems include: 1) providing a navigation system thatmostly continually moves a NUFORS, usually at slow speeds, subject tofederal, state and/or local navigational laws and regulations; 2)providing a navigation system that navigates a NUFORS with convenientaccess to land-based portals that connect to, or are nearby to,land-based transportation, work, health, leisure, etc., services,systems and locations; 3) providing a navigation system that satisfiesperiodic and random requests of inhabitants of a NUFORS to accessland-based portals; 4) providing a navigation system that can userenewable energy resources (e.g., tidal flow, solar and wind) to helpnavigate a NUFORS; 5) providing a navigation system that satisfiesperiodic and random transfers of supplies to/from a NUFORS; 6) providinga navigation system that can handle random navigation interactions thatmay negatively harm a NUFORS; 7) provide a navigation system for a firstNUFORS that can interact with the navigation systems of a nearby NUFORS;8) provide a NUFORS that minimizes use of energy and water and/orminimizes the volume and toxicity of wastes; and/or 9) providingequipment to minimize the need for navigation for water and wastedisposal.

6.6.1 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Laws or Regulations

Urban waterways are subject to multiple federal, provincial, stateand/or local laws and regulations. Usually such laws or regulations areenforced by a coast guard (for example, the United States Coast Guard),or equivalent governmental agency. In the United States, some of thegovernment agencies involved with such laws and regulations include theU.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Center (www.navcen.uscg.gov) nationally,and Sector San Francisco Vessel Traffic Service of the U.S. Coast Guard(www.uscg.mil/d11/vtssf) locally. Background information on, and aerialphotographs of, port facilities for urban regions with waterways such asthose disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 3 is available on the Internet (e.g.,www.worldportsource.com).

In the United States, the Coast Pilot series is a set of nautical bookswith a variety of information important to navigators of waterways,including information on channel descriptions, coordinates andregulations for using anchorages, bridge and cable clearances, currents,tide and water levels, prominent features, pilotage, towage, weather,ice conditions, wharf descriptions, dangers, routes, traffic separationschemes, small-craft facilities and Federal regulations applicable tonavigation. The series, comprising Coast Pilot 1 to Coast Pilot 9, areavailable at: www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm. CoastPilot 7, for example, includes information on San Francisco Bay.

Many urban waterways have regular traffic that, much like for a NUFORS,are constrained by these laws. For example, in the San Francisco Bayregion, there are ferry services between San Francisco, Oakland andMarin County (Sausalito, Tiburon and Vallejo), with multiple ferry ridesbetween these four cities/towns each day, all such trips satisfyinggovernmental laws and regulations (as must trips conducted by cruiseships and cargo ships that travel in the bay). In Puget Sound, forexample, there are ferry services between Seattle and Bainbridge Island,Bremerton and Vashon. For a NUFORS, with its generally slower speed, andwith one goal of navigating to more desirable vistas, the navigationsystem can be programmed to determine routes for a NUFORS that intersectfor as little time as possible with pathways for more regular traffic,such as ferries, and cruise and cargo ships.

Faster irregular traffic, such as power boats, or slower irregulartraffic, such as sail boats, tend to sail at certain times (e.g.,weekends) and locations (e.g., between Angel and Treasure islands), sothat a NUFORS navigation system can be programmed to avoid such areaswhen there is a high density of boats at these times.

Returning to the example of the waterways of San Francisco Bay, thefollowing are examples of navigational rules that can apply to thenavigation of a NUFORS. These rules are taken from the United StatesCoast Guard manual—“Navigation Rules: International—Inland”. Such rulescorrespond to federal laws in Title 33 of the United States Code, withsupplementary information in Title 33 of the Code of FederalRegulations. Similar rules apply to waterways in urban regions for othercountries that have adopted international navigation regulations.

Rule 9(a)—A vessel proceeding along the course of a narrow channel orfairway shall keep as near to the outer limit of the channel or fairway,which lies on her starboard side, as is safe and practicable.

Rule 9(d)—A vessel shall not cross a narrow channel or fairway if suchcrossing impedes the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate onlywithin such channel or fairway. The latter vessel may use the soundsignal prescribed in Rule 34(d) if in doubt as the intention of thecrossing vessel.

Rule 9(f)—A vessel nearing a bend or an area of a narrow channel orfairway where other vessels may be obscured by an interveningobstruction shall navigate with particular alertness and caution andshall sound the appropriate signal prescribed in Rule 34(e).

Rule 9(g)—Any vessel shall, if the circumstances of the case admit,avoid anchoring in a narrow channel.

Rule 10(c)—A vessel shall, so far as practicable, avoid crossing trafficlanes but if obliged to do so shall cross on a heading as nearly aspracticable at right angles to the general direction of traffic flow.

Rule 10(f)—A vessel navigating in areas near the termination of trafficseparation schemes shall do so with particular caution.

For many waterways in urban regions around the world, in addition to theabove laws that apply nationally, there can be local rules enforced bylocal, state and/or federal authorities. For example, the nationalUnited States Coast Guard has sectors, for example, Sector SanFrancisco, that regulate vessel traffic on waterways in their sector.USCG Sector San Francisco has rules, USCG Vessel Traffic Service SanFrancisco Users Manual (www.uscg.mil/D11/vtssf/vtssfum.asp), includingthe following rules that apply to a NUFORS, with similar rules inwaterways in other urban regions.

Inshore Sector: Sailing Plan—A vessel shall provide a sailing plan tothe VTS on channel 14 at least 15 minutes prior to getting underway froma berth or anchorage in the Inshore Sector. Position Reports: shall bemade: once a vessel is actually underway or upon entry into a VTS areas;when passing a reporting point; and after pilot change, departure ofpilot, or other change in person directing the movement of the vessel.

Route Intentions: All vessels shall be aware of and follow the SanFrancisco Bay traffic routing system. This system consists of a TrafficSeparation Scheme (TSS) offshore and Regulated Navigational Areas (RNAs)in the Inshore Sector. Any decision to deviate from the TSS or RNA mustbe made by the master or person in charge of the vessel. You shallnotify the VTS prior to deviating from TSS or RNA.

Anchorages (B). VTS administration of the anchorages includes ensuringproper separation of anchored vessels to prevent their swinging ordrifting into each other. The COTP has established a mandatoryseparation of 750 yards around anchored vessels over 300 gross tons.Vessels anchoring with 750 yards, or which “settle out” within 750 yardsof another vessel will be directed by the VTS to re-anchor at a greaterdistance. The vessel that was the last to arrive will normally be theone required to move.

Anchorages (F). No vessel may anchor in a “dead ship” status (propulsionor control unavailable for normal operation) at any anchorage other thanAnchorage 9 without the prior approval of the Captain of the Port. Anyvessel anchoring in a “dead ship” status shall have one assist tug ofadequate bollard pull on standby and immediately available (maximum of15 minute response time) to provide emergency maneuvering. When thesustained winds are 20 knots or greater, or when the wind gusts are 25knots or greater, the tug must be alongside.

Recreation Areas: Recreation areas are intended primarily for use byrecreational vessels. Such areas should not be used by vessels 300 grosstons or more, except in case of emergency or special circumstances.

Traffic Lanes: Traffic lanes are intended for use by vessels 1600 grosstons and over; arrows on navigation charts indicate the appropriatedirection of flow within each lane. The provisions of Inland NavigationRule 9 apply to all vessels navigating in the traffic lanes.

Anchorages: Within the navigable waters of San Francisco Bay, anchoringis prohibited outside of designated anchorages except when required forsafety or with the written permission of the Captain of the Port.

6.6.2 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Land-Portal Access

Periodically, often multiple times a day, a NUFORS can be navigated toprovide access to land-based portals, so that residents can betransported to land-based transportation systems to be able to travel tolocations for work, shopping, entertainment, etc. Such access can bearranged at fixed times each day (e.g., circa 8 AM for traveling towork, 6 PM for traveling back to a NUFORS, etc.) Other times fortransport can be arranged at the request of one or more residents.Residents can be transferred by a variety of tenders.

For example, consider San Francisco bay, where residents of a NUFORSwant to make use of facilities and services in the city of SanFrancisco. The navigation system can navigate a NUFORS so that theNUFORS passes close by (or docks to) the piers at the Ferry Buildingand/or near Fisherman's Wharf. For nearby passage (for example, throughTemporary Anchorage 7), a tender attached to the NUFORS can transportresidents to/from the NUFORS and piers. Once at a pier, the residentscan transfer to ground-based transportation (foot, bike, rental car,cab, limo, public transit, etc.). The Ferry Building (and nearby piers)is approximately at latitude 122 degrees, 23.5 minutes and longitude 37degrees, 48 minutes. Fisherman's Wharf (and nearby piers) isapproximately at latitude 122 degrees, 25 minutes and longitude 37degrees, 48.8 minutes. One location inside Temporary Anchorage 7,convenient for transfer using a tender from the NUFORS to any of thesepiers in San Francisco, is at latitude 122 degrees, 23 minutes andlongitude 37 degrees, 49 minutes.

Traversing such pre-arranged connections typically can require muchtime, given the close proximity of a NUFORS to the land-based portal(for connections without docking). Random connections requested byresidents when a NUFORS is farther from such portals impose an extratime burden on the residents, for example, in terms of extra traveldistance for the tender.

For some urban waterways, boat slips can be rented/owned to allowoccasional docking of a NUFORS. For example, in Seattle, the Salmon BayMarina Center (www.sbmcseattle.com) leases or sells slips that canaccommodate vessels from 100 feet to 275 feet, with office andresidential space in the vicinity of the slips. Such space can be usedby a resident of a NUFORS who desires to remain on land for a fewnights, or who has missed one of the periodic transports to a NUFORS.For example, in the San Francisco Bay region, NUFORS docking spaced maybe leased in the Oakland Outer Harbor adjacent the now-closed OaklandArmy Base. For example, in the New York City region, NUFORS dockingspace may be leased in the vicinity of where the Newtown Creek meets theEast River.

6.6.3 Medical Emergencies

If a resident gets a sudden hankering for Chinese food (e.g., from HunanHome's Restaurant, in San Francisco), but a NUFORS is too far from aland portal, well, that's a disappointment/failure for the resident whohas to wait until a connection is more logistically feasible. But if aresident has a dire need for medical services, there can be no failure.For regular medical needs (e.g., such as a checkup or minor toothache),for which the resident is mostly ambulatory, the above periodicconnections to land portals can suffice in terms of convenience forseeking treatment. For more critical medical conditions, when a NUFORSis sufficiently close to a land portal, and the resident is mostlyambulatory, the NUFORS can be navigated towards an ambulance-accessibleland portal, where the resident, for example, can be transported via atender. For example, in San Francisco Bay, a NUFORS can be navigatedclose to the piers near 20^(th) and 3^(rd) Streets. The resident can betendered to a pier, and met by an ambulance or other vehicle and driventransport a short distance up 20^(th) Street and then one block leftonto Portero Street to San Francisco General Hospital.

When the resident is not ambulatory (e.g., a heart attack or stroke), orthe medical condition requires much more immediate treatment,arrangements can be made for helicopter or Coast Guard transfer of themedically-impaired resident to a hospital with a trauma center. For aNUFORS with sufficient space, a small helicopter (such as the RobertsonR22) can be stored onboard for use in emergency trips (and/or used forrecreational trips). For example, in San Francisco Bay, a helicopter canbe used to transfer a medically-impaired resident to the regioncentrally-located Oakland Children's Hospital (or the future UCSFMission Bay Med Center).

6.6.4 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Requests of the NUFORS'Inhabitants

Navigation terminals in each residence can provide residents partialaccess to the navigation system of a NUFORS, for example, to allow theresidents to view graphical displays of the current and projectedpositions of the NUFORS, and to allow residents to request schedulechanges in the timing of future land portal connections, etc.

With such terminals, residents can enter requests for additionalconnections, which the navigation system can use to determine thefeasibility of providing navigation for such connections, beforeindicating approval to the resident. For example, if a NUFORS passes theSan Francisco Ferry Building once an hour on the hour during the day,and a resident requests a connection at the half hour, and there are noother resident requests, the navigation system can determine if such aconnection is possible (e.g., if nearby traffic is light, the NUFORS canbe navigated to drift back and forth offshore near the Ferry Building).The navigation system can be programmed to require a minimum time (e.g.,30 minutes) as advance warning for any navigation requests of theresident, and can bill a cost if the required fuel exceeds some agreedupon level.

Also, residents can request for specific navigation paths that providespecific vistas of the region. For example, in San Francisco Bay, ifthere are no other resident requests, and bay traffic is light, thenavigation system can determine a navigation path that satisfies aresident's request to travel about Angel Island.

6.6.5 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Use of Renewable Energy Sources

A NUFORS imposes an extra energy cost on residents as compared to mooredresidents—that of the fuel needed to power the vessel so that the NUFORScan travel along the calculated navigational paths. One way to minimizesuch energy costs can be to use renewable energy resources, such astidal flows and solar energy panels (to power electric propulsionmotors).

For example, in San Francisco Bay, a NUFORS can use tidal flows to moveup to the North Bay Region, where with less water traffic, the NUFORScan save energy by remaining mostly at rest. When the tide reverses (thesame day, or a following day), the NUFORS can move back to the centralbay region. Similar tidal flows, for example, can be made use of withthe Lisbon's Tagus Bay.

6.6.6 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Supplies Transfers

Periodically, though less frequently than the daily land-basedconnection needs of the residents, a NUFORS needs to connect toland-based portals for facilitating the transfer of operational suppliesand/or wastes. For example, such transfers can occur during times whenresidents are imposing few navigational burdens, such as at night whenthe residents can be sleeping, or during the day when the residents canbe onshore. Alternatively, arrangements can be made for another vesselto transport supplies and/or wastes to and from a NUFORS.

Foremost for transfer can be operational supplies for navigating aNUFORS (e.g., fuel, oil, engine equipment), which can be acquired attraditional port facilities. Such fuel can be used to navigate a NUFORS,provide heat for residents, provide electricity for residents, etc. Anadditional supply to be acquired is water, both for the needs of aNUFORS (e.g., cooling and cleaning equipment) and the personal needs ofresidents (e.g., bathing, cleaning, consumption). Transfer of mail, foodsupplies, and other household goods can be handled at the same time.

The NUFORS navigation computers can be used to prepare orders of foodsand other stuffs based on requests from one or more residents. Forexample, such orders can be forwarded to local supermarkets (e.g.,Safeway in San Francisco) and the like (e.g., Waiters On Wheels in SanFrancisco) for fulfillment and delivery to a land portal, whereuponordered goods are eventually conveyed to a NUFORS.

Acquiring supplies eventually leads to the need to eliminate wastes. Forexample, small volumes of waste can be temporarily stored on a NUFORS,and then transferred to a land-based waste disposal service. Any urbanwaterway that experiences cruise ships already has much of the portinfrastructure needed to support the waste (and operational and personalsupply) needs of a NUFORS. The wastes can be transferred using a tenderassociated with a NUFORS, or directly removed if the NUFORS istemporarily docked.

6.6.7 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Random Harmful Incidents

A NUFORS navigation system can be programmed to handle random incidentsthat threaten the safety of residents and integrity of the NUFORS. Suchincidents include collisions with other floating structures, collisionswith fixed objects (e.g., bridges, underwater terrain), and accidents onthe NUFORS.

In most such cases, navigation of a NUFORS stops, or is substantiallyslowed. The navigation system can navigate the NUFORS in coordinationwith any rescue vehicle, for example, with the slower moving, or atrest, the NUFORS moving according to orders received from a rescuingvessel (e.g., a Coast Guard cruiser).

6.6.8 NUFORS Navigation Constrained by Navigation of An Adjacent NUFORS

Given the popularity of the NUFORS concept, in any given urban region,there can be more than one NUFORS be navigated in the waterway, acommunity of sorts.

If NUFORSs share similar navigation systems, the navigation systems canbe programmed to simultaneously navigate multiple NUFORSs. For example,three NUFORSs can be arranged in a column, with the lead NUFORSproviding navigational guidance for the other two, similar to a floatingtrain.

Alternatively, each NUFORS can model any other nearby NUFORS as just anadditional vessels to be navigated away from at regulated distances.

A NUFORS navigation system can be programmed to occasionally move aNUFORS close enough to another NUFORS to allow transfer of supplies andpeople. This coordinated navigation can minimize the number of timesmultiple NUFORS s need to access land portals to facilitate transfer ofsupplies, as well as provides opportunities to create an extended-areaNUFORS across which residents can socialize.

General Navigation and Energy Management System Configurations

In view of the above navigational considerations, the NUFORS navigationsystem and/or energy management system (possibly in conjunction witheach other, or one system can be a sub-system of the other) may beconfigured or programmed to control movement of the NUFORS in thewaterway of an urban region for all days of the year, or up to most orsome days of the year, e.g., up to 365 (every day of the year), 310 (sixdays a week), 260 (five days a week), 182 (every other day of the year),69 (five days a month plus nine holidays), or 52 (one day a week) daysof the year, according to one or more of the following exemplary dailyschemes for controlling the movement of the NUFORS:

-   -   a. the total length of the route of the NUFORS in a given day        may be in the range up to 100 nautical miles;    -   b. the total length of time of movement of the NUFORS in the        waterway in a given day may be less than 24 hours, with at least        one period of time in a given day when the NUFORS is not subject        to controlled movement (e.g., may be adrift in an anchorage, or        moored to a pier);    -   c. the speed of the NUFORS when subject to controlled movement        by the navigation system may be a substantially constant value        between 0 to 9 knots, or the speed may be controlled to vary in        a regular pattern within the aforementioned range;    -   d. the route of the NUFORS may be controlled by the navigation        system to be one or more straight segments, in the form of a        closed shape, such as a circular, elliptical, rectangular,        trapezoidal, pentagonal, or hexagonal (and smooth shapes        thereof), or a combination thereof (for example, a straight line        segment, followed by a loop around an island in the waterway,        followed by a straight line segment); and    -   e. the route of the NUFORS in a given day may be controlled to        have at least one stopping point in any given day, whereby a        stopping point or area is a point at which or an area outside of        which the NUFORS does not generally move relative to the earth's        surface (aside from movement of the vessel about its stopping        point caused by currents or waves), for which the stopping point        may be an anchorage point or area or docking point or area.

Taking into account the above-mentioned schemes, some real-lifepractical examples are now described with reference to particularwaterways around the world. These examples are intended to benon-limiting on the invention and demonstrate the way in which theabovementioned schemes can be applied to solved the problems describedabove.

Examples of Navigation Routes Satisfying Navigation Problems in Light ofthe Above Constraints

The following examples use the waterways of the San Francisco region toteach and illustrate navigational techniques for the structures, systemsand methods disclosed herein for the waterways of any urban region.Routes in the following examples can be programmed into the navigationaland/or energy management systems, or determined dynamically by thenavigational and/or energy management systems.

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting some of the General Anchorage areas of SanFrancisco Bay, areas which are located mostly on the east side of thebay (areas 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9), and a Temporary Anchorage area (area 7)between the northern San Francisco piers and Treasure Island. The routesdepicted in FIG. 6, which traverse these general anchorages, can betravelled daily in mostly continual motion at approximately one nauticalmile an hour; or can be travelled via a stop-and-go pattern of motion,anchoring in each anchorage for a length of time, before travelling at ahigher knot rate to the next anchorage, with the entire range of motionaveraging approximately one nautical mile per hour. Routes shorter thanthose depicted in FIG. 6 can be travelled more slowly to save fuel, ortravelled multiple times each day, while longer routes can be travelledmore rapidly each day, or more slowly for route completion requiring afew days.

One example of a route to be navigated many days of the year is for aNUFORS to remain at anchor, or slowly adrift, in General Anchorage 9during the late night, approximately from 1 AM to 7 AM, for example,offshore from Hunters Point, approximately at a longitude of 122degrees, 21 minutes and a latitude of 37 degrees, 44 minutes (a locationwhich provides nice views of the night skylines of San Francisco andOakland). Then at about 7 AM, the NUFORS starts travelling north,arriving in the waters between San Francisco and Oakland around 9 AM (sothat residents can take shuttles to connect to transport for work orpleasure), and then is navigated much of the morning and afternoon inand around General Anchorages 4, 5 and 6 (which provides close shuttleaccess to Berkeley and Treasure Islands). Around 5 PM, the NUFORS can benavigated back to the lower part of Anchorage 6, for example, to pickupresidents returning from their daily land-based activities. Depending onwater traffic, the NUFORS can also be navigated in a counter-clockwiseloop around Alcatraz Island in the early evening, providing residentswith excellent views, and close access to the nightlife of San Francisco(e.g., Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach, Chinatown) via a tender to thenorthern piers. Afterwards, the NUFORS can be navigated south towardsresting points in General Anchorage 9.

Such a daily route satisfies the navigation rules discussed above, whilesatisfying the logistical constraints of residents, in particular,periodic transfer to land-based transportation systems. The daily routecan vary in numerous ways, with a NUFORS in motion and at anchor fordifferent amounts of times at different locations, with all such routestravelling through the eastern General Anchorages 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9.Relying on a variety of similar daily routes eases the familiarity oflocal authorities with the travels of a NUFORS, routes which aretypically filed with such authorities.

Similar navigation routes can be designed for a NUFORS in other urbanwaterways with general anchorage areas. General anchorage areas providespace for more navigational solutions for navigating a NUFORS, which canoptionally either be in motion, or be at rest, in such areas. Forexample, if a NUFORS needs to be navigated across a shipping channel forwhich there is a cargo ship passing through, the NUFORS can mostly driftin a nearby general anchorage area until the cargo ship has cleared thearea.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a region of the main RegulatedNavigation Areas of San Francisco Bay. When a NUFORS is navigatedoutside of a General Anchorage, it will typically traverse a RegulatedNavigational Area, typically narrow sections of the bay where heavyvessel traffic is being navigated to and from offshore locations, forexample, cargo ships moving from offshore under the Golden Gate Bridgewith a termination at the piers at Oakland Harbor. For example, for SanFrancisco Bay, the Captain of the Port has designated all major deepdraft ship channels as narrow channels or fairways, with some channelsdesignated as Regulated Navigation Areas to help organize trafficpatterns. (See “Rule 9 . . . A Rule to Live By”,http://www.uscg.mil/d11/vtssf/rule9.asp). In such areas, smaller vesselsshould avoid impeding larger vessels under the terms of Colregs Rule 9.Larger vessels are given deference due to their need for more time andspace to maneuver to avoid collision.

A NUFORS can satisfy Rule 9 regulations, for example, by having thepilot and/or navigation system obtain schedules of heavy vessel trafficin waterways such as the San Francisco Bay (or the Puget Sound orChesapeake Bay waterways, etc.), and arrange navigational routes thatavoid Regulated Navigation Areas when there is scheduled traffic. Also,fuel saved while a NUFORS is at anchor or slowly moving in a GeneralAnchorage area can be used to propel the vessel at a higher speed whileit is moving in, or crossing through, a Regulated Navigation Area, tofacilitate design of navigational routes that avoid collisions.

Exemplary Daily Navigation Routes

FIG. 10 is an example of a daily, five-segment, navigational route for aNUFORS that satisfies the navigational constraints described above,comprising linear segments A, B, C, D, and E. All times and coordinatesused below are approximate. For example, a route segment that starts at8 AM and ends at 9 AM can easily start at 8:10 AM and end at 8:55 AM byhaving the NUFORS navigated at a faster speed. Or a mostly due northsegment can be replaced by a slightly longer route that can be mostly 30seconds of longitude east or west or the original segment. FIG. 12depicts some such varied routes. The path segments in FIGS. 10, 11 and12 are depicted as straight lines for illustration purposes only. Forexample, the five straight segments A to E in FIG. 10 can be replaced byone smooth curve, or a combination of curves and lines.

For one example of a daily route, a NUFORS is located at the beginningof segment A (east of South San Francisco) centered at coordinates oflatitude 37 degrees, 41.75 minutes, north; and longitude 122 degrees,20.50 minutes, west; with the NUFORS at this location at approximately12 AM. Segment A can be mostly located inside General Anchorage 9. Overthe next six hours, the NUFORS can be navigated mostly due north,arriving at the end of segment A (and beginning of segment B) around 6AM, if the NUFORS travels the roughly six nautical mile distance at arate of one knot. The NUFORS can also start at another location inGeneral Anchorage 9, if from that location, the NUFORS can be in thevicinity of the beginning of Segment B around 6 AM. Indeed, the NUFORScan anchor near the end of segment A for the entire time between 12 AMand 6 AM.

Approximately from 6 AM to 8 AM, the NUFORS can be navigated alongsegment B, a distance of approximately 1.75 nautical miles, arriving atthe end of segment B (and beginning of segment C) around 8 AM, roughlymoving at a rate of 0.90 knots. The beginning of segment B can becentered at coordinates of latitude 37 degrees, 47.75 minutes, north;and longitude 122 degrees, 20.50 minutes, west. Segment B can be mostlylocated inside General Anchorage 8. Segment B can also be locatedapproximately three kilometers from the Port of Oakland, allowingresidents to be transported to the Port via a tender to connect to theEast Bay regional transportation system, for those residents that workor go to school or relax in the East Bay.

Approximately from 8 AM to 9 AM, the NUFORS can be navigated alongsegment C, a distance of approximately one nautical mile, arriving atthe end of segment C (and beginning of segment D) at 9 AM, roughlytraveling at a rate of one knot. The beginning of segment C can becentered at coordinates of latitude 37 degrees, 48.50 minutes, north;and longitude 122 degrees, 22.50 minutes, west. Segment C can be mostlylocated inside Temporary Anchorage 7. Segment C can also be located lessthan one kilometer from the northern piers of San Francisco (includingthe Ferry Building), allowing residents to be transported to the piersvia a tender to connect to the San Francisco regional transportationsystem, for those residents that work or go to school or relax in SanFrancisco (and/or points south along the peninsula).

Navigation strategies combining general anchorage areas (e.g., in whichSegment A in San Francisco Bay can be located), which can be proximateto regulated navigation areas (e.g., in which Segments B and C in SanFrancisco Bay can be located) that can also be proximate to land-basedtransportation portals (e.g., the piers near the Ferry Building in SanFrancisco), can be navigation strategies used to navigate a NUFORS inother urban waterways. Once such combinations are determined, segmentednavigational routes can be specified that can be traversed atspeeds/daily-distances approximately equal to one knot/24 nautical miles(or faster/longer if more fuel is used, or slower/shorter if less fuelis used). In the United States, the United States Coast Pilot seriesavailable at www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm providecoordinates for, and regulations for using, anchorage areas in theUnited States.

Segments B and C pose more navigational constraints, since when a NUFORSis traversing these segments, the path of the NUFORS can intersectactive shipping channels at times of the day when there is regularlyscheduled traffic, such as ferries and cargo ships. Fuel saved when aNUFORS is drifting in other segments (such as Segments A and E) can beused to propel the NUFORS at a higher speed, if needed, to avoid othertraffic while in Segments B and C. This method of fuel allocation andvarying speed can be used when navigating a NUFORS across an activeshipping channel in other urban waterways.

Approximately from 9 AM to 10 AM, the NUFORS can be navigated alongsegment D, a distance of approximately 1.09 nautical miles, arriving atthe end of segment D (and beginning of segment E) at 10 AM, roughlytraveling at a rate of one knot. The beginning of segment D can becentered at coordinates of latitude 37 degrees, 49 minutes, 27 seconds,north; and longitude 122 degrees, 22 minutes, 54 seconds, west. SegmentD can end inside General Anchorage 6. Segment D can be far from thenorthern piers of San Francisco, but still reasonably reachable by atender. Segment D can be approximately three kilometers from theBerkeley piers, allowing the residents of a NUFORS to be transported tothe piers via a tender to connect to the East Bay transportation system.

Approximately from 10 AM to 1 PM, the NUFORS can be navigated alongsegment E, a distance of approximately 3.89 nautical miles, arriving atthe end of segment E (and beginning of the return navigational route) at1 PM, roughly traveling at a rate of 1.3 knots. The beginning of segmentE can be centered at coordinates of latitude 37 degrees, 50 minutes, 12seconds, north; and longitude 122 degrees, 21 minutes, 54 seconds, west.The end of segment E can be centered at coordinates of latitude 37degrees, 54 minutes, north; and longitude 122 degrees, 23 minutes, west.Segment E can be mostly located inside General Anchorage 6, startingapproximately in the southern side of the Anchorage and endingapproximately in the northern side. Navigational routes for Segment Ecan be quite varied, as long as at the end of travel in Segment E, theNUFORS is approximately near the location of Segment D, so that theNUFORS can start a southern journey near the end of the workday totravel approximately nearby ports and piers to transfer NUFORSresidents.

The second 12 hours of daily navigation for the NUFORS can beapproximately the same segment order in reverse. The NUFORS travelssegment E from approximately 1 PM to 4 PM, segment D from approximately4 PM to 5 PM, segment C from approximately 5 PM to 6 PM (and thus in aconvenient location to pick-up residents returning from work, school orplay in San Francisco), segment B from approximately 6 PM to 8 PM (andthus in convenient location to pick-up residents returning from work,school or play in the East Bay), and segment A from approximately 8 PMto 12 AM.

Routes similar to that depicted in FIG. 10 allows a NUFORS to mostlytravel at a rate of one knot, minimizing economic constraints on fuelconsumption. The NUFORS can also be navigated through anchorage areasthat allow the NUFORS to temporarily slow down to drift rates to savefuel, using the saved fuel to later cross Regulated NavigationalAreas/shipping lanes at much higher rates (many knots) to avoid anyother traffic such as cargo ships or ferries, and thus satisfy allregional navigational rules. A route for a NUFORS can be timed to belocated approximately adjacent to land-based transportation portals(e.g., for San Francisco Bay, near the San Francisco piers and Port ofOakland) so that residents can easily transfer back and forth to theNUFORS via a tender at times coordinated to the work, educational orentertainment needs.

The exemplary route specified above is mostly a route that, in earlymornings and evenings, can have a NUFORS located off of South SanFrancisco (with southern views of San Francisco and Oakland, views ofthe San Francisco peninsula hills and the East Bay hills south ofOakland, and views of the Oakland and San Francisco airports), a routethat, in the late mornings and afternoons, can have the NUFORS locatedwest of Berkeley (with northern views of San Francisco and Oakland,views of the main Bay islands, and views of the Marin headlands).

These locations can be reversed, with a NUFORS located off of South SanFrancisco in the late mornings and afternoons, and west of Berkeley inthe early mornings and afternoons. For such positioning, the NUFORS canapproximately traverse Segment E from 12 AM to 6 AM, Segment D from 6 AMto 7 AM, Segment C from 7 AM to 8 AM, Segment B from 8 AM to 10 AM andsegment A from 10 AM to 12 PM. In reverse, the NUFORS can traversesegment A from 12 PM to 3 PM, Segment B from 3 PM to 5 PM, Segment Cfrom 5 PM to 6 PM, Segment D from 6 PM to 7 PM, and Segment E from 7 PMto 12 AM.

The path for any one segment can be varied in numerous different ways,as long as the daily NUFORS-to-land transfers satisfy the timing needsof residences. For example, FIG. 12 shows a plurality of different pathsfor Segments A and E, as variants of the paths for Segments A and E inFIG. 10. Where paths in FIG. 12 are shorter or longer than those in FIG.10, the speed of the NUFORS can be adjusted to meet any timingconstraints for NUFORS-to-land transfers.

Exemplary routes specified above have a NUFORS being navigated at leasta few hours along both segments A and E, travelling west and south ofTreasure Island during segments B and C to facilitate transfer ofresidents of the NUFORS to/from land-based transportation portals.Optionally, a NUFORS can be navigated in a loop around Treasure Islandto traverse either Segment A or Segment E each day (and thus locatednorth of San Francisco and Oakland most of the day, or located south ofSan Francisco and Oakland most of the day). For example, to mostly avoidSegment A, the NUFORS can approximately traverse Segment E from 12 AM to6 AM, Segment D from 6 AM to 7 AM, Segment C from 7 AM to 8 AM, SegmentB from 8 AM to 10 AM, and then be navigated east and north of TreasureIsland (Segment F in FIG. 11) to a location in General Anchorage 6 neareither Segment E or Segment D, being navigated and/or drifting throughGeneral Anchorage 6 from approximately 10 AM to 4 PM. From approximately4 PM to 5 PM, the NUFORS traverses segment D, and approximately from 5PM to 8 PM traverses Segments C and B which are nearby the ports andpiers of San Francisco and Oakland. Starting at approximately 8 PM, theNUFORS can again be navigated east and north of Treasure Island, endingin General Anchorage 6 to be located during the evening north of SanFrancisco and Oakland, and then be navigated to be traversing Segment Dapproximately from 6 AM to 7 AM the next morning, thereby for the mostpart never being navigated in the vicinity of Segment A. The segmenttraversal for this more northern route, in short form, is [Segments: E,D, C, B, F, D, C, B, F, E]. A segment traversal for a more southernroute, in short form, is [Segments: A, B, C, D, F, B, C, D, F, A], forthe segments depicted in FIG. 11.

Another exemplary system can be to have one NUFORS travel the morenorthern route, while another NUFORS travels the more southern route.Additionally, multiple NUFORSs can be navigated along the same sequenceof Segments, as long as they are separated in time and distanceaccording to local navigation rules. For example, nearby New York City,one NUFORS during one half of the day can be navigated north up theHudson River, while a second NUFORS during the same half of the day canbe navigated south.

A similar navigational route can be established so that a NUFORS isnever navigated in the vicinity of Segment C, that is, navigating theNUFORS east and north of Treasure Island to directly connect Segments Band D. For either such route, a NUFORS can be navigated solelyeast/north of Treasure Island (for example, traversing, in order,[Segments: E, D, B, B, D, E]). Navigating east/north of Treasure Islandhas the advantage of not requiring the NUFORS to cross shipping channelssuch as are present in Segment C (though for some years 2010 onwards,there is a navigational constraint north/east of Treasure Island due tothe reconstruction of the East Bay bridge).

By navigating a NUFORS along these exemplary routes, residents of theNUFORS can be provided convenient access to land-based portals to travelto any of a variety of locations for purposes such as education, work,shopping, entertainment, etc. Such navigational routes also allow one ormore residences on a NUFORS to be used as a floating office. While theabove examples navigate a NUFORS along segments B and C to provideresidents access to land-based portals approximately at the beginningand end of each work day, navigation along such segments can alsoprovide workers access to a residence on the NUFORS being used as anoffice, also approximately at the beginning and end of the day (with atender used to transport workers to and from the NUFORS at random timesduring the day).

By locating a NUFORS for more hours each day in the general anchorageareas of urban waterways, such as in the vicinity of either Segment A orSegment E, fuel can be saved to navigate the NUFORS to more distantlocations in such waterways, for example, the northern or southern partsof San Francisco Bay. For example, consider the case where a NUFORS islocated mostly about Segment E between Berkeley and Marin county. Inthis case, the NUFORS can be optionally navigated north under theRichmond San Rafael bridge into the San Pablo Bay, with its views of thehills of northern East Bay and southern Sonoma counties. Another suchoption can be to navigate a NUFORS west towards the Golden Gate Bridgenorth of Alcatraz Island and then back east south of Alcatraz Island,returning to General Anchorage 6 in the vicinity of Segments E and D.This latter route, while providing some of the most beautiful views ofthe San Francisco Bay, also crosses more shipping channels, and thusneeds extra fuel to propel the NUFORS at higher speeds when necessary toavoid any other (larger) vessel traffic.

Two or more NUFORSs can approximately share the same route (separated intime or distance according to vessel regulations). For example, twoNUFORSs can be separated by a few hundred yards as they are navigatedalong a similar route on the Hudson River between Manhattan and NewJersey.

In those urban regions where two or more NUFORSs are used, one or moretenders can be shared to transport residents to/from a NUFORS toland-based portals. These tenders can belong to a NUFORS, or beassociated with a land-based transportation service (for example,Baydelta Maritime located at Pier 15 in San Francisco). Such tendersallow a NUFORS to be navigated for less time near land-based portals(which can be close to more trafficked shipping channels), with theextra distance to be covered by tenders.

6.6.9 NUFORS Navigation that Minimizes use of Energy, Water, and WasteDisposal

One major logistic advantage of land-based residential housing or officespace is the simplicity of supplying the main utility needs of oil,electricity and water, typically provided through underground piping orconduits. Indeed, most traditional houseboats are generally fixed inplace, with no navigation needs, because the houseboats rely on the sametype of physical connections to utilities as do land-based buildings.For land-based buildings, residential or office, it is also relativelyeasy to remove wastes, for example, by putting physical wastes incontainers outside the building for pickup by public or private wastedisposal services, or by making use of piping and conduits to transportwastes that are mostly fluid to public water treatment facilities. Allthat is needed is to physically connect the building to local utilityinfrastructures.

Since a NUFORS can be unable to regularly acquire and dispose ofutility-based resources through mostly constant physical connections,the NUFORS can make periodic connections to land-portals as describedabove, either mooring and/or using a tender. One way to minimize thefrequency of such transfers and the volume of resources transferred toand from a NUFORS can be to acquire and dispose of such resourcesonboard the NUFORS.

Waste disposal can be minimized by using environmental-friendly wastetechnologies (such as volume minimizing toilets, and filtering systemsfor shower water). For example, Sancor Industries sells the EnviroletWaterless Composting toilet system, a mostly waterless toilet systemthat uses minimal amounts of water and requires minimal amounts ofstorage for the composted wastes. Similar technology can be used forshower and sink wastewater treatment, and compacting machines can beused to minimize the amount of space needed to store other wastes suchas glass/plastic containers, etc.

6.6.10 Navigation System and Energy Management System Control

The NUFORS navigation system initially can be programmed with daily,weekly and monthly navigation routes based on the above constraints,plans which can be used manually by one of more human pilots, and/or byautomated (autopilot) navigation control systems. Any random incidentscan be handled with route reprogramming. The navigation system caninterface either with one or more onboard engines to control movement ofthe NUFORS, or can interface with the navigational system of a secondvessel (such as a tugboat) that is pushing or pulling a NUFORS.

A variety of navigation systems can be used to navigate a NUFORS, forexample, systems incorporating technology found in U.S. Pat. No.6,826,478 (“Inertial navigation system for mobile objects withconstraints”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,113 (“Navigation method for a meansof transport”), U.S. Pat. No. 6,567,743 (“Method and device fordetermining a route from a starting location to a final destination”),U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,665 (“Method and apparatus for control of vesselmaneuvering”), U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,644 (“Processing for monitoring shiptraffic at sea while recognizing oil spills and potential shipcollisions”), U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,287 (“Navigation display apparatus forcollision avoidance utilizing polygonal safety regions and predicteddanger areas”), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,341 (“System for sea navigationor traffic control/assistance”).

Standardized software packages, and/or their circuit equivalents, can beused as part of the navigation system for a NUFORS. For example, VNS MAXPro (www.nobeltec.com) is a visual navigation system that includes thefollowing properties: real time vessel positioning, quilting forseamless chart integration, distance and bearing to activemark/route/target, unlimited route and waypoint placement, GPSupload/download, auto-pilot support and other features. Garmin Ltd.(www.garmin.com) offers a variety of hardware and software systems formarine radar, traffic monitoring, autopiloting, sonar and othernavigation-related equipment that can be used as part of the navigationsystem for a NUFORS.

A variety of exemplary daily navigational routes are disclosed herein,typically as sets of latitude and longitude coordinates; or sets oflatitudes and longitude coordinates and start/stop or duration times.Such exemplary coordinates and time points are approximate. For example,if section of a navigational route is starts at 12 PM, the section canbe started at 12:05 PM with the vessel being navigated slightly fasterto reach the next section around its starting time. Computer programssuch as GPSBabel (www.gpsbabel.org) can be used to convert thelatitude/longitude/timing navigation routes disclosed herein into datafiles that can be used by a plurality of commercial navigation andautopilot systems. GPX (the GPS Exchange Format) can also be used torepresent the latitude/longitude/timing data disclosed herein forinterchange between navigational software systems.

The energy management system can either be a separate hardware/softwareapparatus exchanging navigational information with the navigationsystem, or the energy management system can be a sub-system within thenavigation system. In either case, for example, the energy managementsystem can comprise one or more computer programs and databases thatuses time, location and fuel status information provided by thenavigation system to determine minimal energy navigational routes thatare communicated to the navigation system.

Further, the exemplary navigational systems(s) and/or energy managementsystem(s) may include or be implemented by one or more computingsystems, which may in turn include, for example, a processor, memory,storage, and input/output devices (e.g., monitor, keyboard, disk drive,Internet connection, etc.) Such computing system(s) may includecircuitry or other specialized hardware for carrying out some or allaspects of the processes. In some operational settings, computingsystem(s) may be configured as a system that includes one or more units,each of which is configured to carry out some aspects of the processesin either software, hardware, or some combinations thereof.

Additionally, a computer-readable medium can be used to store (e.g.,tangibly embody) one or more computer programs for performing any one ofthe above-described processes by means of a computer. The one or morecomputer programs may be written, for example, in a general-purposeprogramming language (e.g., C, Java, Ada, Lisp) or some specializedapplication-specific language. The one or more computer programs may becompiled for execution on a processor, or for being loaded intoprogrammable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs) or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

8. CONCLUSION

The above description of the embodiments, alternative embodiments, andspecific examples, are given by way of illustration and are not intendedto be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally,although a feature may appear to be described in connection with aparticular embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognize thatvarious features of the described embodiments can be combined inaccordance with the invention. Moreover, aspects of the inventiondescribe in connection with an embodiment may stand alone as aninvention. Moreover, it will be appreciated that various modificationsand alterations can be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing illustrative details and embodimentsshown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claimsalong with their full scope of equivalents.

The term “comprising” as used herein is synonymous with “including”,“containing”, or “characterized by”, and is inclusive or open-ended anddoes not exclude additional, un-recited elements or method steps.

1. A navigated structure with residences for independent parties,comprising: a) a first vessel operable to be navigated in the waterwaysof a single urban region; b) at least one navigation system operable tocontrol movement of said first vessel along at least one route throughsaid waterways, said first vessel being moved for most days of a year,c) at least one energy management system operable to determine at leastone navigational route for use by said navigation system to controlmovement of said first vessel, said navigational route includingcoordinates of at least one anchorage area, said first vessel beingmoved for a plurality of hours for said days of a year in which saidfirst vessel is moved; d) at least two residential structures supportedby said first vessel, said residential structures occupied byindependent parties, said residential structures separate or coupled;and e) at least one second vessel detachably coupled to said firstvessel, for transporting during any days of the year, at least onemember of at least one said independent parties to or from one or moreland-based portals within said urban region.